Chris’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2011)

Chris’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I'll nominate The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport for SciFi. It did fairly well last month, so I'll give it another go.

And I'll try The Magpie Lord for Fantasy.

Dawn wrote: "I am going to nominate Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan for fantasy.
I read the second series first and want to go back to read how it all started. This is a gr..."

Dawn, City of Bohane is tagged as Fantasy before Science Fiction. Since you've already nominated Promise of Blood as Fantasy, I'll have to disallow Bohane. Do you have another suggestion for Science Fiction?

Hello everyone, and happy holidays!
It's time to open nominations for our March 2024 Books of the Month. What do you want to be reading next March?

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Sunday December 17.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Monday December 18 and will run through Sunday November 24.
• The final run-off polls go up Monday December 25 and will be open through Sunday December 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Time Travelers Never Die
The Eternity Artifact
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport
The Stars Undying
The Splinter in the Sky

FANTASY:
Promise of Blood
Memory and Dream
The Magpie Lord
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians

I use it from my computer, my iPad, and my phone.

I don't keep a journal per se. But I do have a spreadsheet where I record everything I read (including highlighting titles that I particularly like), and I do record what I read in Goodreads and in Storygraph.

Whoa! Nonstop action for sure. What a ride!

I am not normally a fan of body mods as part of scifi worldbuilding. Not against it, no, but sometimes it feels that the body mods are there just for shock value. This, this was totally different. The body mod culture was absolutely integral to the plot, and in so many different ways. Yet while it was important as a plot device, it did not get in the way of the larger story (mystery/chase/thriller). Really well handled, I think. I'll definitely be continuing on with the next book.

I read Watership Down for the first time many, many years ago. I thought it did a terrific job of describing life inside a rabbit warren, with a bit of a mystical side from Fiver. And I thought that the introduction of rabbit terminology was brilliant, culminating in "Silflay hraka, u emblir hrair!"

I read The Bees in 2015, so I don't remember much of the details. But I gave it an average review, I'm afraid, and don't plan to re-read. Just wasn't the book for me, I guess!

Just finished Scavengers Reign, and I completely agree with Anomander. Excellent!

Final polls are now open. Please vote for what you'd like to read in February, to start off the new year!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... Fantasy Poll

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... SF Poll

Preliminary polls are now open! Please vote for what you'd like to read in February 2024!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... Fantasy Poll

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... SF Poll

I'm going to toss in a couple of nominations:

For SciFi - The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport - this looks interesting and unusual

For Fantasy: The Fragile Threads of Power - while having the same setting as her Darker Threads of Magic (which I absolutely loved), this begins a new series.

Hi everyone,
Oh yes, it's that time again! It's time to open nominations for our February 2024 Books of the Month. What do you want to be reading in the new year?

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Thursday November 16.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Friday November 17 and will run through Thursday November 23.
• The final run-off polls go up Friday November 24 and will be open through Thursday November 30.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Time Travelers Never Die
The Spare Man
The Terraformers
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport
Spaceling
Change Agent

FANTASY:
Memory and Dream
All the Seas of the World
The Fragile Threads of Power
Witch King
Dreamside
Dungeon Crawler Carl

Wow! what a ride!

It took a while for me to get interested in the story. But it certainly picked up steam as it went along. This space opera spanned millenia, entire galaxies and uncounted civilizations. It included loyalty and betrayal, murder mysteries and multiple conflicts, but had at its heart a love story.

I enjoyed that the names of the Gentian line individuals were plants. While I recognized some, I had to look up Mezereon. It's poisonous! And Hesperion was one of my favorite characters.

If I have to nitpick, I felt it was sometimes a bit difficult to determine the POV character as we switched between Campion and Purslain. And while I found Abigail's chapters in Palatial interesting, I'm not really sure how relevant they were to the rest of the story. In particular, I expected more real-life interaction later with the boy who became Count Mordax.

But overall, an expansive and gripping story. Glad we picked this one!

Final polls are now open. Please vote for what you'd like to read in January, to start off the new year!

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

I agree, Shel, the ending is heartbreaking yet somehow inevitable. I thought the entire series was well written. The characters were complex and interesting, and I got more and more invested in them as the series went on.

But the constant horror of war makes this a very difficult read. While I understand Rin's motivation for pursuing the war (and I'm not sure she really had any other viable option), the cost was incredibly high. All the high-minded goals she had for the nation aren't worth anything if everyone is starving. It's very well written, very real, and still very depressing.

Preliminary polls are now open! Please vote for what you'd like to read in January, to start off the new year!

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll

Please note: the link to Crow Winter comes up in French. But the book is definitely available in English as well.

I will nominate the Centenal Cycle by Malka Older: State Tectonics, Null States, and Infomocracy. Billed as cyberpunk political thrillers.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it when it first came out, and intended to continue with the series as it was published (although I never did). I read it again recently, and was just as taken with the interesting magical system, the well-rounded characters, and, well, I always love a good heist. The magical system and the economics of the world are interwoven in complicated ways -- really well thought out!

I intend to go on and finish the series, although I admit that the other comments in this thread have me concerned. But I'm a completist at heart, so I guess I'll find out for myself...

Hi everyone,
Oh my goodness, is it that time again? It's time to open nominations for our January 2024 Books of the Month. What do you want to be reading in the new year?

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Tuesday October 17.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Wednesday October 18 and will run through Tuesday October 24.
• The final run-off polls go up Wednesday October 25 and will be open through Tuesday October 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Time Travelers Never Die
The Terraformers
Starter Villain
Red Team Blues
Air

FANTASY:
Memory and Dream
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
The Magician’s Daughter
The Dark Lord's Daughter
Crow Winter
The Keeper Chronicles